Roch Marc Kabore elected President of Burkina Faso

Ouagadougou: Roch Marc Christian Kabore won Burkina Faso's presidential election, official results showed, after a year of turmoil that saw the west African country's former leader deposed and the military try to seize power in a coup.

Kabore, who governed under former strongman Blaise Compaore before turning his back on the old regime, won the vote in the first round with 53.49 percent of ballots, the electoral commission said late yesterday.

"We must get to work immediately. Together we must serve the country," he told a crowd of several thousand supporters outside his party headquarters, pledging his "determination to open up the opportunities for a better tomorrow".

The new president also expressed his 'warm congratulations' to the election authorities that organised the poll, the first time in almost three decades Burkina has voted in a new leader after Compaore was ousted in a popular uprising last year.

Kabore's main rival Zephirin Diabre, who took 21.65 percent of votes, congratulated the former premier just before the results were released, according to a journalist at the scene.